The following U.S. patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,133,087 discloses an outboard motor cooling water distribution system that directs water from the water jacket of an engine through a container in which a conduit has a first inlet opening that is configured to cause a water stream to entrain debris from a region near a drain opening of the container and prevent the debris from building up in the vicinity of the drain opening. Debris which is heavier than the water is drawn upwardly through the first inlet opening of the conduit and conducted away from the container. Debris which is lighter than water is entrained in a second water flow and conducted through a second inlet opening of the conduit so that it can be drawn into the conduit and conducted away from the container. The creation of the first water flow maintains the area around the drain opening in a clean condition as a result of the velocity and direction of the water flow caused by the position and size of the first inlet opening of the conduit. The primary function of the present invention is to prevent a buildup of debris in the area around the drain opening and the potential blockage of the drain opening that could result from that type of buildup.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,154 discloses a tell-tale system for an outboard motor in which the tell-tale fluid conduit is connectable to an external water source, such as a water hose, and is extendable away from the cowl of the outboard motor in order to facilitate its use during a flushing operation. When not being used in the flushing procedure, the connector of the fluid conduit is snapped into position in connection with the cowl to maintain its position when used as a tell-tale port.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,696,394 discloses a marine propulsion system comprising an internal combustion engine, a cooling circuit carrying cooling fluid that cools the internal combustion engine, a sump holding oil that drains from the internal combustion engine, and a heat exchanger receiving the cooling fluid. The oil that drains from the internal combustion engine to the sump passes through and is cooled by the heat exchanger.
U. S. Patent Application No. 2009/0130928 discloses a cooling system for a marine engine having a turbocharger that provides a flow of coolant through heat emitting objects prior to flowing through a coolant jacket of the turbocharger itself. This avoids the potentially disadvantageous circumstance of directing cold water directly from a body of water through the cooling jacket of the turbocharger. Both open loop and closed loop versions of the invention are illustrated and described.